2 Confirmed Tornadoes Damaged MD Counties: Weather Service

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — A pair of tornadoes with winds up to 90 mph caused damage in three counties on Friday, the National Weather Service has confirmed.

An EF-0 tornado touched down briefly in Olney, in Montgomery County, on Friday afternoon, and an EF-1 tornado touched down at the St. Mary's County-Charles County line Friday evening, the weather service said.

The Olney tornado had winds estimated at 80 mph. The path of damage started at the 3600 block of Toddsbury Lane and the tornado lifted at the end of that street, leaving downed tree limbs that damaged vehicles parked in a driveway, the weather service report on the tornado said. There were 12-15 trees, some as much as 2 feet in diameter, uprooted and snapped in and around the cul de sac. In addition to vehicles, the rear of homes along Queen Elizabeth Drive were damaged as well.

"Drone footage provided by the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security confirmed the linear damage path, along with other trees that were topped in the vicinity of the path," the weather service said.

The second tornado had winds estimated at 90 mph and traveled from Charlotte Hall at the St. Mary's-Charles County line to near Benedict on Friday night.

The weather service report on that tornado said the damage path started along Bach Drive, where a few trees were down and one tree was snapped about midway up. It tracked across Charlotte Hall and Maryland Route 5, leaving sporadic trees down, the report said. The damage became more concentrated around Mount Wolf Road and White Drive, with one to two dozen trees uprooted and some snapped.

"Large tree branches fell onto a house along White Drive causing damage to the siding along with broken windows," the report said, but there was no other structural damage in the area.

From there the tornado continued northeast, damaging trees along Chappelear Drive, including a large tree uprooted and a tree that fell onto a house.

A witness told WTOP that the tree ripped off outdoor lights and the electric meter on one side of the house, but the other side was untouched.

“Had it been a couple 100 more yards to the north and west, maybe the story would have been different. I was very lucky,” Manny Centeno told the station.

Witnesses told the National Weather Service investigators that most of the damage on Chappelear Drive was around two or three houses.

Beyond that area there were large branches down along Prince Frederick Road between Barney Drive and Colonial Drive, the report said.

"This coincided with the circulation that was on radar," the report said.